Edward ii



(No Model.)

B. H. AMET.

ELECTRIC STEAM GOVERNOR.

No. 341,368. Patented May 4,1886.

7711/271707: MfW

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ED\VARD II. AMET, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO H. A. STREETER, OF SAME PLACE.

ELECTRIC STEAM-GOVERNOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 341,368, dated May 4, 1886.

Application filed January 2S, 1886. Serial No, 190,049. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern: a section taken just above the operating-mag it known that I, EDlVARD II. AMET, a nets 7), showing the same in plan view, and citizen of the United States, residing in Ohi- Fig. 4: is a detail rear view of the operatingcago, in the county of Cook and State of Illimagnets.

5 nois, have invented a new and useful Improve- In said drawings, A may represent the valve- 55 ment in Electric Steam-Governors, of which chamber of a steam-engine, and a the valve the iollowing 1s a specification. stem; A, the dynamoniachine, which is driven My invention relates to governors or do.- by the engine controlled by the valve A, and vices forantomatically controlling the amount is the external circuit supplied with our- I of current generated by a dynamo-machine rent by said dynamo, and the amount of our 60 0 by governing or regulating the position of the rent on which is to be governed or regulated. valve of the engine by which the dynamo is B is a controlling or relay magnet connected driven, and more particularly to improvewith the circuit C, and preferably included ments upon the electric steam-governors heredirectly therein in series with the arc lamps I tofore patented to me in Letters Patent No. or other-working resistances on said circuit.

326,934,ofSeptember29,18S5, and No. 292,397, D and D are two clectro-magncts, by which of January 22, 1884. the rocking lever E is tilted in one direction In my presentimprovement two electro-magor the other, so as to bring the constantly-re nets are employed to operate the rocking levolving wheels 0 e, journaled thereon on 01)- ver, by which its oppositely-driven wheels posite sides of its fulcrum, in engagement with 70 are brought in connection with the valve-adthe friction-wheelF on the shaft f, which comusting mechanism. These two clectro-magmunicates the motion to the valvestem. The nets are both normally cut out of circuit, and magnets D and D are both normally out of one or the other is put in circuit by a concircuitybut the circuit through one or the 2 5 trolling-magnet in the circuit to be regulated, other of these magnets may be closed by the 75 which magnet operates simply as a relay to relay-magnet B, according as the current open and close the circuit through one or the through said magnet B is greater or less than other of the two operating-magnets. By this its normal or proper amount. The magnet 13 means the regulator is made very sensitive has an armature or switclrlevcr, I), which 0 and quick to respond to very slight changes makes connection with the contact-piece b or 80 in the current, as the controlling-magnet has the contact-piece I)", or neither of said contactno work to do except simply to open or close pieces, according as the current on the cirthe circuits through the two operating-mag cuitOis greatcror lessthan its normal amount, nets, by which the power-driven gears or or at its normal amount. A spring, b, and wheels upon the rocking lever are held in 011- its adjusting'screw b, serve to pull the switch 85 gagement with the mechanism by which the or armatureb into connection with the contactmotion is communicated to the valve-stem. piece I) when the current through the control- My invention consists in the novel devices ling-magnet B falls below its normal or proper and novel combinations of devices herein strength. 40 shown and described, and more particularly The mechanism by which the motion of the 0 pointed out in the claims. wheel F in one direction or the other is com- In the accompanying drawings, which form municated to the valve-stem a is fully shown a part of this specification, and in which simiand described in Patent No. 326,934., to which lar letters of reference indicate like parts, patent reference is here made. Sui'iiceit here Figure l is a side elevation of a device emto state that theshaftf of the friction-wheclF 5 bodying my invention, showing also a diagram is journaled in a suitable standard, F, and is of the circuits. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail provided with abeveled gear, /",which meshes sectional view, showing the mechanism cmwith a hollow beveled gear, f, journaled on ployed to communicate motion in one direc a bracket, F attached to the standard F. tion or the other to the valve-stem. Fig. 3 is This hollow beveled gear has aninternal thread 10) which engages an external threaded sleeve, f surrounding the valve stem, and through which the valve-stem can freely play. A stop, f secured rigidly to the valve-stem,holds this sleeve in position at one end, while a stop, f, serves the same purpose at the other. A coilspring, f is inserted between the stop or collar f and the end or head of the externallythreaded sleeve f so as to prevent too sudden a movement of the valve, and to permit the valve-stem to be depressed or moved by the centrifugal governor H after the valve-stem has reached a certain limitof movement, or in case the electric-governor mechanism should fail to act for any cause-as, for example, the opening of the main circuit. The magnet D is included in the circuit or wire d, which leads from the lower contact-piece, I), through magnet D to a binding-post, N, connected to the main circuit by a wire, n. The magnet D is included in a circuit or wire, d, which leads from the upper contact-piece, I), through said magnet D, and thence to binding-post N and wire nto the main circuit. The friction-wheelse and 0 may be constantly driven in opposite directions in any suitable manner, but preferably by means of intermeshing gears e e on the shafts of said friction-wheels, oneof which gears, meshes with the gear 6 on the shaft e of the driving-pulley e. This driving-pulley 6 may receive its motion from any suitable power or moving part ofthe engine or dynamo. The friction-wheels eand e should preferably have beveled or inclined faces, and the friction-wheel F should have a corresponding V,- shaped groove on its periphery.

The operation is as follows: As long as the normal or proper amount of current is being generated by the dynamo-machine and flows through the controlling-magnet B on the circuit G, the switch or armature b will occupy its normal position, and thus make connection with neither contact-piece I) nor b,so that both the operating-magnets D and D will remain out of circuit. The moment, however, any excess of current is generated, or any change occurs in the external resistance, the controlling-magnet B will pull its armature or switchlever 1) into connection with the contact-piece b, and thus close the circuit d through the operating-magnet D, and thus pull that end ofthe rocking lever E down and bring its constantlyrevolving friction-wheel 6 into connection with the friction-wheel F, and thus revolve the threaded nut f 2 in the direction necessary to depress the valve-stem, and thus diminish the speed of the engine until a proper amount of current is restored, when the armature b of the controlling-magnet will again resume its central or normal position and open the 'circuit d through the operating-magnet D. When, however, too little current is being generated or flows through the controlling-magnet B, the switch or armatureb will be raised by the spring I) into connection with the contact b and thus close the circuit through the opposite magnet, D, and move the opposite friction-wheel, e, into connection with the wheel F, and thus move the valve-stem in the opposite direction and increase the speed of the engine until the normal current has been again restored.

My regulator mechanism, instead of being connected with the valve-stem of a steam-engine, may be applied to regulate the position of the/gate of a water-wheel, the speed-controlling devices of other motors employed to drive the dynamo-machine, and other suitable or equivalent mechanism may also be used to communicate the motion of the power-driven wheel to the valve-stem or speed-controlling device of the motor in one direction or the other, as may be required. The constantlydriven gear e, which communicates motion to the gears e eron the tilting lever E, will have a tendency to tilt the lever, especially when one of the friction-wheels c or eis pressed against the friction-wheel F and the valvestem is being moved; but the pull of 'each of the magnets D D is sufficient to overcome this opposing force and hold the frictionwheels e or e and F together with the requisite pressure. This force operates of course in favor of'one of the magnets and against the other-that is, it helps magnet D to hold the friction-wheel e against the wheel F and opposes the magnet D. The magnet D might therefore be made slightly smaller or weaker than the magnet D; but in practice I'make both magnets of the same size, as shown in the drawings,as thedisturbing influence of the gear e on the lever E is comparatively slight in relation to'the force of the magnets D D. When neither of the friction-wheels e or e is pressed against the wheel F by the magnets D or D, the friction of the loose gears e and 6 or the resistance oft'eredby them to the gear e, is so slight that the latter has such a very slight tendency to pull the lever E that it is inappreciable, and whatever tendency there may be is or may be balanced by the adjustment of the lever or of the armatures carried by it. It will of course be understood that this tendency of the gear 6 to tilt the lever E has no 7 effect whatever upon the sensitiveness of the apparatus, as its sensitiveness depends entirely upon the delicacy of adjustment of the relay-magnet B, which opens and closes the circuit through the operating-magnets D and D. The only effect of this tilting tendency of the gear e on the lever E is to require the use of larger magnets D D than might otherwise be necessary.

In another applicatiomNo. 190,050, filed on the same day with this application, I have shown and described the relay-magnet B, the operating-magnets D D, the rocking lever E and its oppositely-revolving wheels as applied to a current-regulator for dynamos. Such subject-matter is therefore not herein claimed.

I claim 1. The electric steam-governor, consisting in the combination, with the valve-stem of a steam-engine, of a controlling relay-magnet,

B, connected with a circuit supplied with current by a dynamo driven by said engine, two operating-magnets, D D, normally out of circuit, said controlling or relay magnet operating to close the circuit through one or the other of said operating-magnets, according as the current is less or greater than its normal amount, a rocking lever, E, furnished with two oppositely-driven wheels, and connecting mechanism for communicating the motion of one or the other of said wheels to said Valvestem, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, with a valve-stem of a steam-engine driving a dynamo-machine, of relay-magnet 13, included in the external circuit of said dynamo, operating-magnets D and D, included in normally-open circuits adapt ed to be closed by said relay, rocking lever E, furnished with constantly and oppositely driven wheels 0 and 0, wheel F, shaft f, gear f, hollow internallythreaded gear f and externally-threadcd sleeve f connected with said valvestem, substantially as specified.

3. The electric-current regulator, consisting in the combination, with a controlling relayinagnet connected with the circuit the current on which is to be regulated, two operatinginagnets included in normally-open circuits adapted to be closed by said relay, a lever, as E, furnished with two oppositely powerdriven wheels, as e c, and a third wheel, as F, to which the motion of one or the other of said wheels 6 0 may be communicated, according as said lever E is moved by magnet D ormagnet D,and the power or speed controlling device of the motor which drives the generator supplying said current, said wheel F being connected with said power or speed controlling device, substantially as specified.

4. The combination, with a relaycontrolling magnet, B, connected with the circuit the current on which is to be regulated, of two OperatingmaguetS, D and D, included in normally-open circuits adapted to be closed by said relay, rocking lever E, friction-wheels e and c, friction-wheel F, shaft f, gear f, hollow internally-threaded gear f externallythreaded sleeve f stops f and f, spring f and valve-stem a, substantially as specified.

5. The combination of relay-magnet B, hav ing armature or switch-lever 1), contacts I) and b", with magnets D and D, rocking lever B, wheels 0 and c, intermeshing gear-s c and c and wheel F, engaging one or the other of said wheels 0 0', according as said lever E is tilted in one direction or the other, and the power or speed controlling device of the motor which drives the generator supplying said current, said wheel F being connected with said power or speed controlling device, substantially as specified.

EDW'ARD H. AMET.

lVi tn ess es:

H. M. MUNDAY, LEW. E. CURTIS. 

